Table of Contents
Introduction 11
Part 1 Neo-Atheism
1 Who Are the New Atheists? 15
2 The New Atheists and the Old Testament God 20
Part 2 God: Gracious Master or Moral Monster?
3 Great Appetite for Praise and Sacrifices? Divine Arrogance or Humility? 27
4 Monumental Rage and Kinglike Jealousy? Understanding the Covenant-Making God 34
5 Child Abuse and Bullying? God's Ways and the Binding of Isaac 42
Part 3 Life in the Ancient Near East and in Israel
6 God's Timeless Wisdom? Incremental Steps for Hardened Hearts 57
7 The Bible's Ubiquitous Weirdness? Kosher Foods, Kooky Laws? (I) 70
8 The Bible's Ubiquitous Weirdness? Kosher Foods, Kooky Laws? (II) 79
9 Barbarisms, Crude Laws, and Other Imaginary Crimes? Punishments and Other Harsh Realities in Perspective 87
10 Misogynistic? Women in Israel 101
11 Bride-Price? Polygamy, Concubinage, and Other Such Questions 110
12 Warrant for Trafficking in Humans as Farm Equipment? (I): Slavery in Israel 124
13 Warrant for Trafficking in Humans as Farm Equipment? (II): Challenging Texts on Slavery 135
14 Warrant for Trafficking in Humans as Farm Equipment? (III): Slavery in the New Testament 150
15 Indiscriminate Massacre and Ethnic Cleansing? The Killing of the Canaanites (I) 158
16 Indiscriminate Massacre and Ethnic Cleansing? The Killing of the Canaanites (II) 169
17 Indiscriminate Massacre and Ethnic Cleansing? The Killing of the Canaanites (III) 186
18 The Root of All Evil? Does Religion Cause Violence? 198
Part 4 Sharpening the Moral Focus
19 Morality without a Lawgiving God? The Divine Foundation of Goodness 209
20 We Have Moved beyond This God (Haven't We?): Jesus as the Fulfiller of the Old Testament 216
Discussion/Study Questions 223
Notes 235